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MEMORIAL 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 



Cui Pudor, et Justitiae soror 
Incorrupta Fides, nudaque Veritas. 
Quando ullum invenient parem? 

Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit. 

— Horace. 



WASHINGT N : 

PRINTED BY JUDD & DETWEILER. 

1880. 



48 65 5 5 

AUG 2 7 1942 






Dead at the age of twenty-one ! Dead at that age 
when young manhood has attained its legal recognition, 
when filled with the hopes and aspirations of youth and 
the conscious dignity of manhood, it stands upon the 
threshold of real active life, and looks with eager gaze 
upon a new world. 

The mystery of life is insoluble and inexplicable, and 
the life which existed through only twenty-one years may 
be as perfect and complete, fulfilling its hidden purposes, 
as one which has lasted to the full three score and ten. 

" What hath he lost, that such great grace hath woon ? 
Young yeeres for endles yeeres, and hope unsure — 
Of fortunes gifts for wealth that still shall dure : 
Oh ! happie race with so great praises run." 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 



We would say a few words to those for whom 
these " In Memoriam " pages are intended. 

This unpretending sketch of Jennings Wise 
Garnett is written with tender love and sacred 
care by one who knew and loved him from his 
earliest life untilthe hour when God called him to 
"the manhood that shall endure," and where, when 
contemplating the lovely character and noble mind 
we knew on earth, we "find him " even u worthier 
to be loved." 

The spontaneous tributes and testimonials of 
devoted affection, sincere esteem, and unbounded 
admiration which emanated from the kind sympathy 
of appreciative hearts and minds, were collected by 
the same loving hands, and a record of the two is 
here made as a just memorial of a young life so 



6 MEMORIAL OF 

gifted by God, that it would have seemed a want of 
reverence and gratitude to the Giver of all good 
had we failed to transmit some perpetuation of the 
memory of one of His noblest works. We say " to 
transmit/' because this memorial is written for the 
gratification and benefit, not only of friends and 
loved ones — fain to have a more intimate acquaint- 
ance with the noble youth, taken so early to the 
" better manhood of Paradise" by "the brave leap 
of death," taken before his generation could do full 
homage to his remarkable powers and realize the 
charm of his harmonious nature — but also for the 
future generations of our family circle and friends, 
that they, too, may admire this peerless youth, this 
young and gentle life endowed — 

" With gifts of grace, that might express 
All comprehensive tenderness — 
All subtilizing intellect." 

We send forth this poor, yet loving tribute to one 
of the most perfect natures humanity could mani- 
fest in no spirit of fond pride and partial admira- 
tion, but as an act of justice to his memory; for, 
though he was so deservedly beloved and honored 
by all who knew him, he was so unassuming, so 
devoid of all petty vanity and vain emulation, so 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 7 

free from all personal rivalship, so utterly averse to 
display and ostentation, so delicately reserved, of 
such manly modesty that only a favored few fully 
appreciated how comprehensive and harmonious 
were the rich endowments of his soul, the genius of 
his intellect, the gentle greatness of his moral 
nature. 

The more we contemplate the traits that marked 
the individuality of this young life, the more we 
feel that we cannot fully comprehend the divine 
within his nature, which attuned his spirit to a pitch 
above the appreciation of a lower humanity. We 
are sure that within his intellectual powers were 
possibilities of development that we cannot appre- 
hend, spiritual depths we cannot fathom, and soul 
heights where we could not soar. Therefore God 
took him to the sphere where he belonged. 

A heart of tender sympathy wrote thus about 
him: " Had Jennings lived a thousand years we 
could have found no greater satisfaction in his life, 
and have asked nothing more for his death, than we 
had." As far as he is concerned this is true ; and 
we thank God, with inexpressible gratitude, for the 
gift of such a life, and the brave submission and 
fearless courage of such a death — no, not death — 
for such a glorious transition of a dauntless, trust- 



5 MEMORIAL OF 

ing young soul from suffering and " the body of 
sin " to eternal youth and everlasting perfection. 

For him we say, " The work of years was done in 
days." 

" He, onely like himselfe, was second unto none, 

Whose deth (though life) we rue, and wrong, and al in vain do 

mone ; 
Their losse, not him, waile they, that fill the world with cries; 
Deth slue not him, but he made deth his ladder to the skies." 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 



The subject of this memoir, Jennings Wise Gar- 
nett, third son of Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett and Mary 
Wise Garnett, was born in Washington, D. C., 
March 1st, 1859. On his father's side his lineage 
can be traced hack to a line of ancestry distinguished 
through several generations for their talents, their 
high social position, and, indeed, for the possession 
of all of those attributes and characteristics which 
belonged to the educated Virginia gentleman ; 
many of them, during the period of half a century, 
having filled official positions, both in military and 
civil life, of distinction and honor. On his mother's 
side the same may be said. The daughter of Gov- 
ernor Henry A. Wise, of Virginia, the immediate 
descendant of General Cropper, a gallant and influ- 
ential officer of the Revolution, and the intimate 
personal friend of General Washington. On her 
mother's side, the granddaughter of the learned and 
eloquent divine, Dr. Obadiah Jennings, of Pennsyl- 
vania — a family no less distinguished for their re- 
markable personal beauty than for a high order of 
intelligence. 

He was christened by his uncle, the Rev. Henry 
A. Wise, in Trinity Church, Washington, D. C, and 
2 



10 MEMORIAL OF 

named after his maternal uncle, 0. Jennings Wise, 
at that time editor of " The Richmond Enquirer." 
His father, at the time of the birth of Jennings, 
was a prominent popular physician in Washington, 
having established himself in that city in the year 
1848. 

At the breaking out of the late civil war he re- 
moved at once with his family to his native State, 
Virginia, and offered his services to the newly- 
formed Confederacy, and received the appointment 
of a surgeon in the Confederate army, which posi- 
tion he filled during the war, being stationed in 
Richmond in charge of several hospitals, and also a 
member of the examining board of surgeons on 
duty in that city. Jennings was sent with the other 
members of his father's family to the plantation of 
his maternal grandfather, Henry A. Wise, situated 
on the eastern branch of the Elizabeth River, about 
eight miles from the city of Norfolk. He was at 
that time a little over two years of age, and baby as 
he was, his brightness and beauty caused him to be 
the household pet. His young life was cast in 
troublous times, for his grandfather, despite his age, 
accepting the commission of brigadier ger\eral in 
the Confederate army, went forth to encounter the 
dangers and vicissitudes of war, taking with him, 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 11 

like a highland chieftain, all who bore his name, in 
whose veins ran his blood, and who were of suffi- 
cient age to bear the sword. Amid such scenes of 
warlike preparation were his earliest impressions 
formed. 

At this home Jennings remained until the latter 
part of the spring of 1862, and here he saw for 
the last time his Uncle 0. Jennings Wise, when 
he stopped a few days w^hile on his way with his 
father's command to the slaughter pen of Roanoke 
Island. During this short stay he made a great pet 
of his little namesake, and the first piece of mem- 
orizing ever done by Jennings was to learn to 
repeat, in his broken child language, several verses 
of a popular war song known by the name of " The 
Bonny Blue Flag," which was taught him by his 
uncle. 

The fall of Roanoke Island necessitated the evac- 
uation of Norfolk by the Confederate forces, and to 
avoid being in the lines of the enemy, the family 
removed in June, 1862, to Rocky Mount, Franklin 
county, Virginia. Here among the mountains Jen- 
nings passed the summer and fall, when with the 
rest of the children, he was taken to Richmond by 
his mother, in which city he remained until the 
close of the war. During this period the baby had 



12 MEMORIAL OF 

developed into the little boy, noted for his great per- 
sonal beauty, of a fair complexion, with fine and 
delicately cut Grecian features, large grayish blue 
eyes, a classic head of faultless shape, adorned by a 
profusion of flaxen curls, and with the neck and 
throat of a girl. His companions and playmates at 
this time were oftener his little girl cousins than the 
boys, and while playing with them his gentleness 
and sweetness would have marked him as himself 
a girl, with the boys on the contrary he held his 
own firmly, and was inclined at times to be obsti- 
nate and overbearing if strongly opposed, but 
yielded quickly and readily to mild and gentle 
persuasion, he was retiring and rather shy with 
strangers, modest and unaffected. After the close 
of the war his father in the fall of 1865, returned 
with his family to Washington. At the age of five 
years he had commenced his studies under the 
tuition of his mother who continued to instruct 
him until he reached his eighth year, when he 
entered school, and was placed under the care of 
Mr. Charles B. Young, the principal of the Emer- 
son Institute. This private institute has for more 
than a quarter of a century held the leading position 
in Washington for the thorough and well grounded 
preparation which its pupils here undergo prepara- 



JENNINGS WISE garnett. IS 

tory to entering the highest colleges in the country. 
Almost immediately upon being admitted to this 
school it was discovered that the quick bright mind 
and powers of rapid acquisition possessed by Jen- 
nings Garnett required him to be placed in classes 
composed of boys many years his senior, and even 
here he was always at the head of his classes. 

At this institute sons of many of the most 
distinguished and talented men of the country, have 
received, in part, their anti-collegiate instruction ; 
sons of United States Senators, of judges of the 
Supreme Court of the United States, of cabinet 
ministers, and many others who were entitled by 
inheritance at least, to possess a high order of intel- 
lect. The writer of this has often heard the princi- 
pal, Mr. Young, say, that with an experience of 
nearty thirty years, the brightest mind that he had 
ever met with was that of Jennings Garnett, he 
eclipsed them all. That whilst he had often found 
boys who exhibited an especial aptitude for one or 
two particular studies, excelling their comrades in 
those, and manifesting extraordinary mental gifts, 
the mind of this remarkable youth was so compre- 
hensive in its scope, so vigorous in action, that he 
seemed to grasp and absorb with equal readiness 
and facility all branches of study; ancient and 



14 MEMORIAL OF 

modern languages, mathematics, philosophy, the 
sciences, all met with a rapid solution alike when 
passed through the alembic of his mind ; that to 
him, in his capacity as a teacher, it was a grand and 
gratifying spectacle to behold this tender boy of 
supernal beauty, his flaxen curls falling around an 
eminently classic head, his magnificent eye bright- 
ened by the glow of intellectual fires burning with- 
in, standing before the blackboard, chalk in hand, 
demonstrating with a graceful ease, rapidity, and 
accuracy, as remarkable as beautiful, some difficult 
mathematical problem. 

He at once took his stand among the best stu- 
dents in this school, and rapidly advanced to the 
position of first scholar, which he maintained until 
he left the institution. He remained at this school 
until he was fifteen years of age, having the year 
previous, at the age of fourteen, completed the 
course of study and graduated with the highest 
honors, receiving medals therefor. To him we may 
here say, that such testimonials possessed but little 
value. From his earliest youth he seemed to enter- 
tain a feeling of contempt for the practice of reward- 
ing scholars with prizes for proficiency in study, 
arguing that such customs engendered a spirit of 
petty rivalry and ignoble emulation among pupils 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 15 

that militated with the true and proper motive for 
study, which he said should be the love of knowl- 
edge. That, for his part, it always afforded him 
pleasure to witness the progress and successes of 
his school companions in their studies, and that he 
never failed to feel unhappy at any achievement of 
his which could be regarded in the light of a 
triumph over those w 7 ith whom he was associated. 

Too young to enter college, it was determined to 
continue him another year at school, and so he again 
returned to the Emerson Institute for a special course. 
During this session, although not fifteen years of age, 
he acted as much as an assistant teacher as a scholar, 
and though frequently placed in charge of those near 
his own age, a position of extreme delicacy, he con- 
ducted himself with such dignity, firmness and im- 
partiality, that his schoolmates very soon learned to 
understand that playmate Jennings and teacher Jen- 
nings were two distinct and separate persons; and 
that the boy on the play ground was the man in the 
class room, performing this delicate and difficult duty 
in such a commendable and acceptable manner as to 
secure for him the commendation and friendship of 
all of his associates. 

His studies during this year were beyond those 
usually followed at this school, and he alone pursued 



16 MEMORIAL OF 

them, reciting to his teacher generally after the 
school hours. The confinement of this winter, when 
he was compelled to remain in the school room 
sometimes until after five in the evening, in order 
that his teacher could have an opportunity to hear 
his recitation after school had been dismissed, doubt- 
less taxed his strength and constitution more than 
he or his family ever at that time suspected, and 
may have exercised some remote agency in the sub- 
sequent development of that disease which proved 
so fatal to him. 

Notwithstanding, to all appearances, his physical 
powers seemed to keep pace with his mental devel- 
opment, and he was strong and active beyond most 
boys of his age, excelling in athletic sports — so agile 
was he, that he could at the gymnasium accomplish 
the difficult feat of running; and throwing a somer- 
sault in the air and light upon his feet. 

Quick and reserved in manner, but firm and un- 
yielding even to obstinacy, seeing through a sub- 
ject quickly, and therefore strongly fixed in his 
opinions, he maintained them with earnestness and 
determination. Controversial and fond of argu- 
ment, he nevertheless had nothing of the bully in 
his disposition, nor would he for a moment tolerate 
it in others resisting with an indifference as to what 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 1 1 

might be the odds against him the least aggressive 
infringement upon any of his rights. His reputation 
in this respect, combined with his known strength 
and activity, caused his boyish companions to be- 
ware of fastening quarrels upon him. 

At the close of this session of his school, notwith- 
standing his great aversion to appear in public, he 
was prevailed upon to deliver the valedictory; 
although but fifteen, his great fund of information, 
fine person and unusual beauty of face enabled him 
to appear to advantage whenever he spoke. His 
teacher would sometimes purposely, in the debating 
exercises of the school, place him upon the weaker 
side of the question and oppose him with the abler 
debaters among the boys. He has frequently de- 
scribed how he enjoyed seeing Jennings, when his 
opponents commenced to press him closely, rouse 
himself like a lion and scatter the arguments of his 
adversaries, exhibiting on such occasions the fact 
that he possessed the powers of a great debater. It 
would be a task of no ordinary difficulty to attempt 
an analysis of his mind. One of its prominent 
qualities to which we may here refer was his won- 
derful power of concentration and abstraction. 
Many amusing incidents going to illustrate this 
peculiar quality have been told of him; for example, 
8 



18 MEMORIAL OF 

when ten years old he was in the habit of making 
frequent visits to the house of a friend, where there 
was a fine library, affording him an opportunity of 
indulging his taste for reading, and escaping from 
the routine of school studies, embark with an eager- 
ness and zest peculiar to himself upon the domain of 
general literature. On such occasions he would 
throw himself upon the floor of the library and 
soon become so much engrossed with his book that 
a little girl, with whom he was a great favorite, 
impelled by childish curiosity, would search his 
pockets, abstracting therefrom their entire contents, 
of top, knife, and pencil, without his having been 
at all conscious of the petty larceny, and, when in- 
formed by the lady of the house that it was time 
for him to return home, he would walk off in pro- 
found ignorance of his having been robbed, leaving, 
indeed, the contents of his pockets behind, but car- 
rying with him an accurate knowledge of the sub- 
ject-matter of the volume that had so absorbed his 
attention. It was upon one of these occasions that 
a lady visitor from Boston, seeing him thus engaged, 
exclaimed " Boy, where are your wings ? " declaring 
that he was the most angelic mortal in appearance 
she had ever seen. 

The fall following his last session at school he 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 19 

entered William and Mary College. His career 
here, like that at school, was marked by one con- 
tinued series of successes, being, indeed, as well 
prepared when he entered the institution as most 
men are when they leave it, he stepped at once into 
the first rank among his fellow students. 

The venerable old college of William and Mary 
can count, with pride, many illustrious names 
among its Alumni, but none ever ranked higher in 
scholastic attainments at the time of graduating 
than Jennings Wise Garnett. Situated in the old 
town of Williamsburg, Virginia, filled with the 
memories of the past and with little of the spirit of 
to-day, the quiet of its surroundings, together with 
the influence of its traditions, peculiarly fit it for 
the residence of a student. Here, under the roof 
of his aunt, in company with his brother and cous- 
ins, Jennings passed what he always referred to as 
three happy years. The climate was mild, and his 
health vigorous and robust, and although he would 
not pay that attention to exercise which he owed to 
his physical welfare, devoting himself to his books 
during those hours usually spent by other students 
in the open air, his health did not at that time 
apparently suffer therefrom. 

During these three years he changed rapidly from 



20 MEMORIAL OF 

a boy of fifteen to a young man of eighteen, becom- 
ing tall and slender, possessing large bones and 
other evidences in his physical construction, that he 
was intended by nature to become at maturity a 
large and muscular man. A sketch of his career 
whilst at this college has been kindly furnished by 
president, Colonel Benjamin Ewell, whose intimate 
association with Jennings, eminently fitted him for 
that task, and which sketch is here inserted : 

Sketch of the late Jennings Wise Garnett while attending the Col- 
lege of William and Mary. 

On the 14th of October, 1874, Jennings Wise 
Garnett, son of Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett, of Washing- 
ton city, and grandson of General Henrj^ A. Wise, 
entered the college of William and Mary. He was 
then but fifteen years of age. His appearance was 
striking and prepossessing, and indicated an age 
more advanced by several years. The expression 
of his countenance, calm and reflective as it was, 
resembled somewhat that of the Honorable Robert 
Boyle, the well known Christian philosopher, as 
represented in an original portrait presented to the 
college one hundred and fifty years ago by his 
nephew, the Earl of Burlington. 

Three other grandsons of General Wise matricu- 



JENNINGS WISE GAKNETT. 21 

lated at the same time. It may not be inappropri- 
ate here to state how great an interest General 
Wise felt in the institution, and this can briefly be 
done by quoting from a report of the Faculty, made 
after his death, to the Board of Visitors and Gover- 
nors of the College : 

" The college has received a severe blow in the 
loss of General Henry A. Wise. From his election 
as visitor and governor in 1848, when the fortunes 
of the college were thought to be desperate by some 
of its best friends, to the day of his death, he was 
ever its active and zealous guardian ; exerting his 
wide spread influence in its behalf: sending his 
sons, his grandsons, his nephews, and, indeed, every 
young man he could control to be educated within 
its walls; and giving, willingly and promptly, his 
powerful support to any measure tending to its im- 
provement and efficiency. 

"The recovery of the college from its prostration 
in 1848, its rebuilding in 1859, and its restoration in 
1865, were each and all due, in a large measure, to 
his work. The need of such a supporter and friend 
is, in the present crisis, sadly felt. 

" Though his fame belongs to his State and his 
country, yet this faculty seeks thus to record its ap- 



22 MEMORIAL OF 

preciation of his eminent services, its sense of per- 
sonal and official loss, and its respect for the memory 
of so valued and distinguished a friend." 

This presents but a meagre outline of what Gen- 
eral Wise did for the college during an official con- 
nection of nearly thirty years. 

When Jennings Garnett matriculated much was 
expected of him by the faculty, because of his re- 
ported intelligence, and of his training at the justly 
celebrated school of Mr. Young, of Washington 
city. In every respect he far exceeded the most 
sanguine expectations. When the classes were 
formed he joined the senior, or intermediate, in 
every department save that of chemistry. To say 
that he excelled in each study is but simple truth. 
In two years time, when he was but seventeen, he 
was master of the entire college course. This en- 
titled him to the degree of master of arts. With 
characteristic modesty he preferred that of bachelor 
of art*, taken July 4th, 1876, by his fellow gradu- 
ates. While studying, it was not his habit to con- 
fine himself to text books. One effect of this was 
to require, in mathematics at least, careful prepara- 
tion by his instructor. In the lecture room he was, 
invariably, modest and pleasant, but by no means 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 23 

ready to receive as conclusive an "ipse dixit" on a 
point admitting demonstration, from a professor or 
any one else. 

To citizens, faculty, and students his deportment 
was manly and attractive. While here he was uni- 
versally admired, and, so far as his retiring manner 
allowed him to be well known, beloved. 

While he made no pretences to religion he was at 
heart religious. I had frequent conversations with 
him on various subjects, this included. I never 
heard him utter one word implying ignorance of 
religious obligation or want of veneration for holy 
things. 

When he graduated he was entirely competent to 
fill any professorship in the college. 

He remained one year after he graduated, filling 
satisfactorily and ably, by invitation of the faculty, 
the chair of belles letters and metaphysics. In this 
department were one or two young men of unusual 
intelligence and ability who had been his college 
mates. I apprehended some objections on their 
part to receiving instruction in so important a sub- 
ject from one so young and so inexperienced as Gar- 
nett was. An interview with them confirmed my 
apprehensions. I then asked them, as a favor to 
me, to quietly attend the class for two weeks, when, 



24 MEMORIAL OF 

if they were not perfectly satisfied, a change should 
be made. Hearing nothing further, I at length 
sought the parties and reminded them of my 
promise. They expressed themselves as well satis- 
fied, but informed me the course was becoming so 
difficult, they could not do justice to their other 
studies. Reminding them that this was a fault 
common to all young professors having proper 
knowledge of what they taught, the matter was 
dropped, and if every renewed, certainly not in 
the form of complaint. 

At the close of the session this work was referred 
to in a report of the Faculty, July 4th, 1877, to the 
Visitors and Governors in the following terms : 

" Mr. Jennings Wise Garnett has exhibited such 
marked ability and research as an instructor in the 
department of metaphysics as to entitle him to a 
formal acknowledgment of his valuable services." 
This acknowledgment was not made for want of 
time. 

For nearly fifty years I have been officially con- 
nected with educational institutions, including the 
United States Military Academy at West Point, 
and three colleges in Virginia. With no wish to, 
unduly, laud or to exaggerate, I state, after much 
reflection, that I never met the superior, and, but 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 20 

once, the equal in mental power of Jennings Gar- 
net! This was John W. Holcomb, a brother of 
the late Professor Holcomb of the University of 
Virginia, and a graduate with distinguished honor 
at Washington College, now Washington and Lee 
University, in 1847. This young man, of lovely 
disposition and character, was, with the exception 
of Garnett, the most spiritual and intellectual being 
I ever met. His power of abstraction seemed 
superhuman. He lived in an ideal world, and had 
apparently but little in common with the world in 
which ordinary mortals " live and move and have 
their being." He died of consumption soon after 
he left college. 

Garnett was equally intellectual, had equal power 
of abstraction, and had the power to pass, at will, 
from the abstract to the concrete, from the ideal to 
the real. From a difficult passage in a Greek 
tragedy he could turn without an effort to an intri- 
cate problem in mathematics, and from either to 
the sports and pleasures of his comrades. What- 
ever he had to do, he did with all his might. From 
such are the Caesars of this world fashioned. 

Garnett would have excelled in any pursuit. 
Like Julius Caesar he was not a natural orator. As 
Caesar did, he could have made himself one of the 
4 



26 MEMORIAL OF 

best in his " day and generation." Had he turned 
his attention to war, or literature, or medicine, or 
law, or theology, he would have been " primus inter 
pares." 

In no proper sense of the term were the minds 
of Holcomb or Garnett precocious. There w r as no 
unnatural mental development; no premature 
growth of any faculty. Nature endowed each with 
a sound and healthy mind of extraordinary compass 
and vigor, which increased in strength to the end. 
Had they possessed a physical, proportioned to their 
mental, organization, their families and friends 
would not have been called on to mourn their early 
loss. 

Believing the profession of law, in this country, 
to offer the surest path to reward and to distinction, 
I, more than once, advised Garnett to adopt it. 
Apparently he preferred medicine. It is my im- 
pression that this preference had its origin in filial 
love; in a wish to be with and assist his father, 
whose reputation as an eminent physician and large 
practitioner is so well known and esteemed. 

In many of his mental and moral characteristics 
Jennings Garnett reminded me of his Uncle O. 
Jennings Wise, whose life was, unfortunately, sac- 
rificed at Roanoke Island, in 1862. The filial devo- 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 27 

tion of 0. Jennings Wise, in 1860 one of the most 
prominent and distinguished men of his age in the 
United States, was a marked and lovable element of 
his nature. In this Jennings Garnett resembled his 
uncle. 

Such is the impression, imperfectly described, 
made on me by Jennings Wise Garnett while at 
college. 

For nearly two centuries some of the best among 
the youth of Virginia have been educated at the 
College of William and Mar}% and the names of an 
unusually large proportion of these are inscribed 
in " letters of living light " on the Rolls of Fame, 
but never, in my judgment, has the threshold of 
the institution been crossed by a more brave, more 
true, more pure, more intellectual spirit than that 
which animated the frame of Jennings Wise Gar- 
nett. 

" His life was gentle ; and the elements 
So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up 
And say to all the world, ' This was a man.' " 

B. E. 



The summer after the session spent as professor 
at William and Mary he visited the Virginia moun- 
tains, and the following October, entered as a 



28 MEMORIAL OF 

student the University of Virginia, he brought 
with him to the University a high reputation as a 
student and scholar. Although only eighteen years 
of age. he was in every respect fully prepared for 
the course of study he was about to pursue, com- 
bining in a rare degree a well-trained, disciplined 
mind, w T ith a phenomenal power of application and 
acquisition. 

In order that those who are unacquainted with 
the course of study at the University of Virginia, 
may form some just conception of the high order 
of scholarship here necessa^ to obtain the degree 
of master of arts, it is proper to state that this 
institution has adopted the highest standard for 
graduation of any college in this country; it is 
modelled upon the university plan, as its name 
indicates, and has no compulsory curriculum of 
study, the student selecting for himself such studies 
as he desires to pursue ; the attendance of the 
student upon the lectures of the professors is ex- 
pected, and in cases of repeated absence he is 
called upon for an explanation ; beyond this nothing 
is compulsory, the student being supposed to be of 
an age sufficiently matured to appreciate the im- 
portance of study, and behave as a gentleman. 
Two examinations are held yearly in each school, 



JENNINGS WISE GAfcNETT. 29 

an intermediate and a final, attendance upon these 
is optional, but no degrees are given unless these 
examinations are passed, and when passed the 
degrees are conferred without reference to the time 
the student has been at the institution. 

It is a rule with the University of Virginia, from 
which it has never departed, to bestow no honorary 
degrees, and hence, the title of A. M. is necessarily 
the badge of ripe scholarship. 

Prior to 1865, the degree of A. M. had been 
taken by some students within the space of two 
years, but since that date, the number of schools 
having been increased, it was considered impossible 
to accomplish the necessary amount of study to 
graduate within that limited period ; attempts to 
do it had been made in vain, and both professors 
and students concurred in the opinion that it could 
not be done. To this difficult undertaking Jen- 
nings addressed himself immediately upon his 
return to the University in the fall of 1878 — the 
wonderful capacity of his mind had never been 
called upon to put forth its full strength before — 
and it was the consciousness on the part of his 
family of this reserved power which induced them 
to urge his making the attempt. 

The scene of his graduation was one which will 



30 MEMORIAL OP 

not soon be forgotten by any of those who were 
present, and witnessed the ceremony. 

The annual commencement at the University of 
Virginia is an event which always attracts to that 
deservedly popular institution a large number of 
visitors from different parts of the country, on the 
occasion referred to there was an unusual brilliant 
assemblage of students, ladies, and gentlemen 
crowding the hall; among them, many eager and 
interested spectators present to witness the crown- 
ing success of sons, brothers, and friends. 

The supreme moment of Jennings' triumph had 
arrived, graduating as he had done in so many 
schools, his name was necessarily called more 
frequently than that of any other student, and 
such was the enthusiam felt by all in his magnifi- 
cent success that upon each occasion the mention 
of his name drew forth rounds of applause, and 
when he finally came forward to receive his master's 
degree, with that quiet grace and modesty of 
manner which characterized him at all times, the 
whole audience moved by a common impulse 
greeted him with continued and vehement plaudits. 

Of his character as a student we will here permit 
two of the most accomplished and impartial 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. §1 

members of the faculty, Professors Thomas R. 
Price and Charles S. Venable, to speak : 

University of Virginia, Nov. 22, 1880. 
To Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett, Washington, D. C. 

My Dear Sir : It gives me a sad pleasure to go 
back in memory to my acquaintance with your noble 
and gifted son, and to recall for you what I remem- 
ber of his extraordinary career as a student. 

In the talk of the university, where young men 
gather to us from so many schools and colleges, 
there is always rumors beforehand of the coming up 
to us of any young man that has greatly distin- 
guished himself by his abilities and success in 
study. In this way I had heard much of Mr. Gar- 
nett before he came to us, reports of his brilliant 
achievements at William and Mary, and hopeful 
prophecies of what he would achieve with us. I 
had the pleasure of seeing him first, in October, 
1877, soon after his matriculation, and of hearing 
from him that he intended, besides entering several 
senior classes, to keep up his knowledge of Greek 
by following my intermediate course. Even in our 
first talk, in the rapid way in which a professor 
forms a preliminary judgment of his future student, 
I was greatly charmed by him. The extreme 



32 MEMORIAL OF 

beauty of his face, with its clear-cut features, its 
brown eyes, and its strong intellectuality of expres- 
sion, the grace and dignity of his movements, the 
modesty and refinement of his manners, and the 
directness and candor of his talk, all revealed to me 
in him a young man of altogether unusual powers 
and promises. The work of my intermediate class, 
upon which he at once entered, was done by him 
with almost faultless regularity and faithfulness. 
Two absences, as I find by reference to my old reg- 
ister, were entered against him, and his work in 
Greek composition was from the first distinguished 
by the utmost accuracy and thoughtfulness. He 
had, as I soon saw, been carefully trained in Greek 
by his excellent teacher at William and Mary ; but, 
instead of relying, as too many weak young men 
rely, upon the excellence of his preparation as an 
excuse for idleness, he soon showed me that he was 
hard at work in building up the highest scholarship 
upon the foundation that he had laid. As usual, I 
gave by far the larger share of the intermediate 
year to the study of Homer, and this close study 
of Homer, as he afterwards told me, first aroused 
in him, as it always does in bright, keen minds 
of any imaginative power, the enthusiasm of 
Greek study, and the sense of the realness and 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 33 

vitality of Greek thought. He read largely in 
Homer beyond what was required of the class. He 
entered with enthusiasm and with remarkable clear- 
ness of understanding into the grammatical study of 
the text, and into the poetic movement of thought 
and of story. His translations, both oral and writ- 
ten, were soon distinguished above almost all his 
class-mates by the strong fidelity and picturesque 
force of his readings; and his conception of Greek 
syntax gained clearness and force from his study of 
the luminous Homeric contractions. He won his 
distinction with ease at the end of his intermediate 
year, and owed to Homer the success that awaited 
him in the more difficult studies of the following 
session. 

When he came back to me in the October of 
1878 he entered himself as a member of my senior 
class, and as a candidate for graduation. He threw 
himself into his Greek studies with all the ardor of 
the first year, and the prose of Demosthenes seemed 
to kindle his ifnagination as much, and to exercise 
his mind even more, than the poetry of Homer. I 
soon found, however, that his absences from class 
were too frequent, and I sent for him to have a frank 
talk with him. He then told me that he was work- 
ing to win his master's degree in his second year, 
5 



34 MEMORIAL OF 

and that the strain upon his time was so great that, 
to work up certain studies, he had been misled into 
neglecting those in which he felt himself strongest. 
He spoke to me in the frankest and most winning 
way of his ambition to please you and to distin- 
guish himself by thus achieving a distinction in 
university annals that had not for many j^ears been 
even aimed at. I warned him of the difficulties in 
his way, and of the imprudence of overstraining his 
powers either of body or of mind. All that I could 
accomplish, however, was the promise not to get 
himself into trouble by absences from lectures, and, 
above all, if he should feel his health giving way 
at any time, to give up his dangerous ambition. 
We talked on this last subject whenever he came to 
see me, and he always assured me that his health 
was perfect, and his appetite and powers of sleep 
unimpaired. He took, as I knew, much open air 
exercise, and his spirits were high and hopeful. 
Thus my first doubts as to his success gradually 
gave way to hope, as I watched his work in 
Greek from month to month. I saw no sign of 
jaded attention nor of fatigued mind in his class, 
and rapid mastery of all the facts and principles 
that I laid before the senior class. His work was 
always well done. His acquisition of new knowl- 



jENttitfGS WISE GARtfETT. 35 

edge was not only very rapid, but also very clear 
and lasting, especially the grace and correctness of 
his Greek style, as proved by his weekly exercises, 
showed me that his mind was applying his new- 
knowledge with such judgment and precision as to 
prove beyond all doubt that his rapidly acquired 
knowledge was thoroughly digested and worked 
into his mind. 

As the end drew near, in the June of 1879, the 
chances of Mr. Garnett's success in standing all the 
many examinations that awaited him were watched 
and canvassed with deep interest. His bright wit, 
merry ways, and sweet temper had made him much 
beloved by his fellow students ; and his remarkable 
success and ability as a student had aroused admira- 
tion among the professors. In Greek, when the time 
came for my examinations, his papers carried him 
high up above the mark of graduation. So far from 
any slurring or carelessness or dullness as the result 
ot supposed overwork, all was clear, accurate, and 
scholarly. His translations were marked by even 
more than their usual neatness and elegance of ren- 
dition ; his statements of facts and principles in 
syntax were given in the fewest possible words, but 
with a logical precision in answering the exact ques- 
tion, and in not going beyond the question, such as 



36 MEMORIAL OF 

showed how carefully he had thought all the bear- 
ings of what he had learned. But, best of all,' the 
long exercise in Greek composition, which is re- 
garded as the second part of the examination, was 
marked by such a fluent and easy command of 
Attic prose as to remove all doubt of his solid 
and accurate Greek scholarship. As day by day 
passed on we heard of what he had done in his 
other examinations, and his success became more 
and more assured. There was a wide-spread feeling 
of relief and of personal pleasure when the news 
got abroad that he had been successful in all, and 
had won his two-year degree. The day that he 
received it must, indeed, have been an impressive 
and delightful one to him. I remember well how 
his beautiful face trembled with emotion as, amid 
the prolonged shouts of enthusiastic students and a 
crowded audience, he came forward to receive his 
degree from the chairman's hand. His triumph, I 
think, in the history of our University was never 
more fairly won or more worthily bestowed. 

In the qualities of his mind and in his methods ot 
study were to be found, of course, the secrets of his 
university success. Even when he was working 
hardest, his work was often interrupted by his keen 
delight in all forms of amusement. He never dulled 



Jennings Wise ga^nem. 3? 

the keen edge of his mind by a long strain of unre- 
lieved work, nor by over-anxious solicitude as to 
his own chances of success. He came back from 
amusement to work with a keen relish; and, when 
he studied, he studied with a mind vigorously at 
work and profoundly interested in the subject before 
him. Thus his rate of progress was rapid because 
he never jaded his mind, nor lost interest and en- 
thusiasm in his work. I often found, when he 
came to see me, that he would take a book away to 
read, and find time, in all his routine-labors, for the 
enjoyment of fresh knowledge and a new subject. 
In this spring and velocity of mind lay the secret, I 
think, of his power. 

His mind itself, as I come to think from observa- 
tion of him, was distinguished in the highest degree 
by its power of rapidly mastering principles, and of 
accurately applying these principles to new facts. 
Thus, as I found, he never committed the same 
blunder twice. No sooner was an error made clear 
to him, than his mind grasped the statement of the 
underlying principle, and stored up for future use 
the law that governed the case. Such a mind, if 
refined by experience and concentrated into higher 
strength on some special line of research, must have 
opened up to him, had he lived on, the highest and 



§8 MeMohIal oP 

noblest success in any profession that he might have 
chosen. I mourn with you in him, my dear sir, so 
far as any stranger to you may presume to show you 
grief, the loss to our University and to our country 
of a noble, vehement, and powerful young intel- 
lect, that might, so far as men could judge, have 

gone forward very far and very high in its achieve- 
ments. 

Yours, with great respect and profound sympathy, 

Thos. E. Price. 



University of Virginia, Nov. 4, 1880. 
Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett, 

My Dear Sir : I have not hitherto intruded into 
the sacred precincts of a sorrow so deep as yours 
in the untimely death of your noble son. But I 
cannot refrain from a few plain lines in tribute to 
his memory. I did not know him as intimately of 
course as his young comrades and friends, the 
graceful eulogiums from whose pens have so touch- 
ingly expressed the common lamentation of all in 
the sudden death of one, in whose future there was 
such splendid promise of usefulness and honor. 
My intercourse with him was in the sober and 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 39 

severe studies of the mathematics. But I learned 
to admire his brilliancy and quickness of apprehen- 
sion, and buoyant intellectual courage as tested by 
the difficulties of those less congenial studies. I 
learned too, as did all who came in contact with 
him, to appreciate highly his charming courtesy, 
and attractive, graceful, manners. Knowing him 
thus, I sympathized with his fellow-students in 
their enthusiastic interest in his academic achieve- 
ments and successes. 

His remarkable academic career and sudden 
death, recall vividly to me another young master, 
the son of parents near to me, who like your son 
won the admiration of all by his brilliant intellect 
and attractive character, and who like him came 
back from a brief stay in Europe to die in the 
arms of his father. 

That God doth all things well is a truth which I 
believe in my inmost heart. But it is a mysterious 
lesson when such men are cut down on the very 
verge of their manhood, men the vigor and beauty 
of whose budding genius gave such promise of 
noble fruitage in the fields of literature and science. 

The memory of Jennings Garnett will long linger 
in these old halls as a sweet and glorious tradition. 
Yours, very truly, 

Chas. S. Venable. 



40 MEMORIAL OF 

Soon after his return from the University of 
Virginia, in July, he received a letter from his 
intimate friend, Mr. William Christian, informing 
him that a merchant ship would sail about the first 
of August, from Richmond, Virginia, for some port 
in France, and as he proposed going over in this 
vessel himself, he earnestly hoped Jennings would 
avail himself of such a favorable opportunity to 
visit Europe. 

Attracted by the companionship of his friend, 
and the obvious benefit that he would derive from a 
sea voyage, after so long and arduous a course of 
study at college, he eagerly embraced the chance 
thus offered of consummating what he had already 
planned — the prosecution of his studies in Europe. 
He accordingly left Washington for Richmond the 
last week of July, 1879, and on August 2d, in com- 
pany with his friend, Mr. Christian, embarked on 
board of the ship Icarus, bound for the port of 
Havre. He kept a desultory journal of his trip 
across the Atlantic, but it is evident that the usual 
monotony of a sea voyage was not varied by any 
incidents of interest that he regarded as worthy of 
record. It seems to have been a period of pro- 
found rest and tranquillity of mind and body with 
him, as will be found most touchingly referred to in 
the reminiscence of his companion. 



MEMORIAL OF 41 

In glancing over this journal we noticed a few 
entries which serve in some degree to show the 
character of his literary tastes and habits, as well 
as his powers of critical observation : 

Wednesday, August 20th. — "I read Bunyan's Pil- 
grim's Progress over again. It is curious to read 
between the lines as you go. I greatly preferred 
the first part, and was only confirmed in my opinion 
that the Holy War is equal to the Progress — super- 
ior to the second part certainly. In the latter part 
there is too much controversy, and controversy not 
clearly expressed either — I suspect for the reason 
that the arguments were not so clearly conceived ; 
a rather bold undertaking for the son of a travel- 
ing tinker, who followed his father's trade for some 
years and then joined the army, to enter upon the 
question of 'justification.' The description of Van- 
ity Fair in both the first and second parts strike me 
as the best of the work. He shows better in the 
Holy War where his campaigns enable him to give 
a very animated picture of the sieges, captures and 
chances of the City of Mansoul. I am surprised it 
is not more read. Must look up some curious ex- 
pressions I met with in Bunyan, e. g., ' calves of the 
lips.' " 



42 MEMORIAL OF 

Alas, how little lie thought while writing these 
comments, that before one year had rolled over, in 
that very month, his own pilgrimage on this earth 
would so early reach the valley of the shadow of 
death, and that his young and lovely spirit would be 
called to cross the dark river to enter upon the life 
where all warfare ceases in the harmony and cer- 
tainty of the eternal home. 

On the 26th of August he makes this entry. — 
" For the last five days I have been devouring 
Trevelyan's Macaulay. It is queer that I took up a 
prejudice against Macaulay without having read but 
one or two of his essays, owing I think to his attack 
on Bacon, which I now rejoice to learn from Pro- 
fessor Holmes had been repelled. I am filled with 
desparing envy when I read of his memory ; but I 
can make mine do better than it has, and I can also 
train myself to know some Latin and Greek. How 
much of it the fellow read." 

These were the last entries made in his journal 
which occurred a day or two before he reached port. 

Before reaching the end of his trip across the 
ocean, which occupied twenty-seven daj^s, he had 
mastered the practical science of navigation, and 
would frequently amuse himself by assisting the 
captain and mate in taking observations and work- 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 43 

ing out the position of the ship. It is also worthy 
of remark that although these officers were rough, 
sea-faring men of British America, and accustomed 
to the rude and hardy life of the merchant sailor, 
like all others who were brought in contact with 
him, they very soon manifested in their conduct 
towards him that his gentle nature, elegant and re- 
fined manner and appearance, had insensibly to 
them, softened their rough characters, and brought 
them under the magic influence of his mysterious 
power. They became warmly attached to him, and 
when parting with him were profuse in their ex- 
pressions of sorrow. 

Unlike most young Americans who visit Paris, he 
seems to have occupied himself whilst there in the 
pursuit of useful information, such as seeking a 
general knowledge of the plan and topography of 
the city, of its magnificent and extensive public 
works, its institutions of art, learning and charity. 
He chiefly devoted his attention to the latter, famil- 
iarizing himself in detail with the treasures of per- 
fected art and advanced science which were here 
presented to him in such richness and variety. 
These stores of valuable knowledge which he thus 
leisurely garnered, besides embellishing and enrich- 
ing his already highly cultivated intellect, would, 



44 MEMORIAL OF 

no doubt, had he lived, at a future day have been 
appropriated to some high and noble purpose. 

With his characteristic modesty, and aversion to 
ostentatious display, he rarely referred, after his 
return from Europe, to his personal experiences, or 
to what he had seen, unless elicited by the discus- 
sion of some subject of art or literature which had 
come under his observation whilst there; and then 
the graphic yet simple and elegant manner in which 
he would disclose his familiarity with such topics, 
was eminently instructive and fascinating to those 
around him, and made him the central object of 
attraction and admiration to his associates. 

After remaining in Paris about two months, by 
the advice of friends and with the concurrence of 
his own judgment, he determined to return home 
and prosecute his professional studies in this coun- 
try, preferring to avail himself of the advantages 
of a sojourn in Europe, and attendance upon its 
colleges and libraries at a later period, after he had 
graduated in his profession at home. He accord- 
ingly left Paris in November, and returning by the 
way of London, he sailed in the City of Berlin for 
New York late in October. He reached Washing- 
ton early in November, in apparently vigorous 
health, having increased in flesh and stature ; his 



JENNINGS WISE GANNETT. 45 

appearance at this time excited general remark and 
admiration, all of his friends agreeing in the opinion 
that the trip had been of signal benefit to his 
physical health. 

While waiting for his father to determine which 
of the two professions, law or medicine, he pre- 
ferred him to pursue, unwilling to remain idle even 
for a brief period, he commenced attending lectures 
in the National Medical College of this city. About 
this time he contracted a cough which seemed at 
once to take a deep hold upon him, and to be the 
harbinger of serious results. From the first the 
disease appeared to fasten upon him with a fatal 
grip ; he commenced to decline in flesh, to grow 
pale, and exhibit other alarming symptoms, w T ell 
calculated to awaken the liveliest apprehensions on 
the part of his family and friends. It was imme- 
diately determined to remove him from this climate, 
and to send him to some more genial and southern 
locality. Selecting Aiken, South Carolina, as a 
long recognized southern sanitarium, he left Wash- 
ington for that place on the 9th of January. 

He did not stay long in Aiken, inasmuch as a 
friend recommended Trenton very highly, as a re- 
sort in the pine lands not far from Aiken, where he 
would not be so entirely surrounded by invalids, 



46 MEMORIAL OF 

and where this friend offered him the use of a horse 
for daily exercise. 

Mrs. Governor Pickens, of South Carolina, re- 
sided at Edgefield, quite in the vicinity of Trenton. 
She had been for sometime a friend of his father, 
Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett. Hearing of the sojourn of 
the son at Trenton, she invited him with great 
cordiality to her house, where he frequently went, 
finding much pleasure in the society of Mrs. Pick- 
ens and her daughter. About the first of March 
his father wrote to him to try another change by 
going to Thomasville, South Georgia. 

Mrs. Pickens had herself been an invalid for 
sometime, and was well acquainted with the sani- 
taria of the South. She advised that he should 
not go farther South so late in the season, and said 
that she knew he would have all the advantages of 
a mild and salubrious climate at Edgefield, and in- 
sisted with most affectionate solicitation that Jen- 
nings should become an inmate of her family, 
where he could enjoy the luxuries and comforts of a 
home, not to be had at a hotel, and the most de- 
voted attention and care. His father, with grateful 
appreciation of Mrs. Pickens' kindness, consented 
to this plan,. and he went to Edgefield early in 
March. 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 47 

Mrs. Pickens received him with warm hospitality 
and bestowed upon him all the tender care and faith- 
ful nursing she might have given to her own son. 
Until about the middle of March the accounts of 
his health were more favorable, and then they 
became less satisfactory, and very soon his letters 
again excited the most painful apprehensions in his 
family circle at Washington. 

In April he wrote that he had declined in strength 
and lost appetite, was in fact decidedly worse; final- 
ly the letters from Mrs. Pickens and himself were so 
alarming that his brother was sent to bring him 
home immediately. 

We can find no more appropriate place for giving 
some extracts from a letter received from Mrs. 
Pickens after his death, than here, in connection 
with his visit to Edgefield; these extracts add 
another sweet tribute to the magnetic influence of 
his lovely character, and throw some light upon the 
tenor of his mind at this time, suggesting what may 
have been his thoughts and feelings when he re- 
flected upon his condition in view of the disease 
then trying him, and of the possibility of an early 
death. 



48 JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 

From the Letter of Mrs. Governor Pickens. 

" I mourn my own loss in the early death of your 
noble and incomparable boy. He was one of my 
small family, a dear care and interest in my daily 
life, more than long enough to attach us to him by 
no ordinary ties, for we learned to know and value 
his character, as rare as it was superior, in all its 
wonderful attributes — a brave, bright intellect that 
looked ever upward and onward in search of truth, 
a moral nature peculiarly pure and high, instinc- 
tively revering all that was true, and beautiful, and 
good in life; a strength of mental power and pur- 
pose : a wealth of information and knowledge 
almost irreconcilable with his years ; all this com- 
bined with warm generosity of heart, and gentlest 
courtesy of manner, rendered his companionship 
and his friendship a privilege no less than a pleasure 
and happiness. If we dared question the supreme 
wisdom and goodness that rule the world, it would 
seem strange that it was in God's providence to 
remove from its earthly sphere of action an intelli- 
gence so rarely gifted, so rich in every possibility 
of good to all who came within its influence, to 
6 rob our age so sorely needful' of a spirit who with 
its maturity must have elevated and adorned its 
highest ranks. 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 49 

" I like to know there was no touch of sorrow 
in his life or on his heart, save what came through 
his inexhaustible sympathy for others, that he 
escaped all the disappointments, all the painful 
dis-illusions of an earthly career, and if it is given 
to such happy spirits to remember, only the bright- 
ness, and blessings, and beauty of earth will make 
his memory. 

t; I like also to remember his courage, and 
patience, and cheerfulness under suffering, and 
above all, the calm Christian spirit of the only 
occasion on which he ever to me referred to his 
possible death. In driving home from the ceme- 
tery, where we had taken some flowers, I observed 
that he w r as more grave and silent than usual, and 
he continued so all the evening. In the course of 
conversation among the young people the question 
was asked as to what in life was the surest founda- 
tion or chance for happiness? He said, ' I think a 
devout love for the will of God.' 

" Later I inquired — ' Why have you been so quiet 
and thoughtful ?' 'I do not like to tell you,' he re- 
plied, 'because I think presentiments and such 
things foolish ; but while walking in the cemetery, 
thinking of your remonstrance when I objected to 
my overcoat, and saying to me, " no cough is a 
7 



50 MEMORIAL OF 

small matter; I have known a very slight cough 
to end seriously." Just then, I raised my eyes and 
saw written on a tombstone, " aged twenty years 
and six months." Somehow it has made me 
thoughtful,' and then I recollected his remark as to 
insuring happiness." 



These extracts speak for themselves and need no 
further comment. 

He arrived in Washington the last part of April. 
His family were inexpressibly shocked at his ap- 
pearance. He was emaciated and extremely weak. 
From that time until his death everything that the 
most eminent physican could advise, and that the 
most careful nursing could do was done for him. 
A long and hard battle was fought for the precious 
life, but the dread enemy that attacked with such 
malignant and insidious power could not be van- 
quished. 

During all this season of suffering and waiting, 
and ail his subsequent illness, he evinced the same 
patience and gentle courtesy of manner which had 
so endeared him to his friend Mrs. Pickens. He 
was always serene and generally cheerful, no com- 
plaint escaping his lips, no murmur of impatience 
betraying his uneasiness of mind or heart. 



MEMORIAL OF 



51 



He remained for six weeks in Washington, and 
he recuperated considerably, regained flesh and 
appetite, and so far recovered his strength, that in 
the early part of June it was determined to send 
him to Cobb's Island, off the Virginia coast, where 
he could have the full benefit of ocean air. Some 
four weeks were passed at this place in the com- 
pany of his mother and brother, and with manifest 
benefit. On his return en route for Washington he 
spent a week at Old Poin t,Virginia, and notwithstand- 
ing a slight hemorrhage which occurred while there, 
upon reaching home he seemed to have improved in 
appearance and strength and his father felt so much 
encouraged about his health, that he at once sent 
him to the mountains of Virginia, to escape the ex- 
hausting heat of the city; he was apparently so 
much better, that his brother alone accompanied 
him. 

They left on the ninth day of July, for the Red 
Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, the waters of which 
place had long been noted for their healing efficacy 
in pulmonary affections; he had much confidence in 
the effect of these waters and frequently expressed 
himself hopeful of their beneficial results in his case. 

Owing however to the exhausting and fatiguing 
journey which he was compelled to make from the 



52 JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 

railroad station to the springs, he was, soon after 
reaching there, prostrated bj^ a severe and copious 
hemorrhage, from which he never rallied. A so- 
journ at this place of nearly three weeks utterly 
failed to afford the least grounds for hope, he con- 
tinued to fail from day to day, declining so rapidly 
in strength that the necessity for his immediate re- 
turn home became apparent to all. 

He reached Washington, Friday, July 31st, and 
on the following Tuesday he became most alarm- 
ingly worse; his symptoms told that the vital pow- 
ers were finally giving away, and foreboded that 
dissolution could not be distant. Then for the first 
time his father told him of his low condition, that 
he must resign all hope of recovery, and that death 
might be very near. He received the communica- 
tion with wonderful calmness, saying, I had hoped 
to live, but if God has decreed it otherwise, I am 
not afraid to die, I would even now prefer to live, 
and up to this moment had always hoped to recover. 
Up to this period of his illness he had been entirely 
reserved in regard to his feelings about the fatality 
of his disease, and in the expression of his religious 
sentiments. 

When told that Bishop Pinkney who had been 
the pastor of his childhood and youth had been 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 53 

telegraphed to come to him he expressed great 
satisfaction, saying that he wished to see him above 
all others. The Bishop was at the White Sulphur 
Springs, but came immediately upon receiving the 
sad summons. 

We will not attempt to lift the vail from the 
sacred privacy of the interview between the Bishop 
and his young disciple. 

The letter of the Bishop which we here introduce 
fully expresses his estimate of Jennings. 

Bishop Pickney's Letter. 

My Dear Friends : Words cannot express the 
sympathy I feel for you in the deep sorrow which it 
hath pleased God to lay on your bleeding hearts, 
and yet it is a sorrow that hath the sweetest con- 
solation. 

To speak of Jennings without seeming exaggera- 
tion would not be possible. The etching of such a 
character looks like hyperbole. I knew him in his 
bright boyhood, and a more lovely boj 7 never gave 
sunshine to the hearthstone more bright and glow- 
ing. It was the sunshine of a heart as fresh as a 
dew-drop and full as sparkling. I fancy I see him 
now, as I saw him then, with his fine classical con- 
tour of features and graceful form. Passionately 



54 MEMORIAL OF 

fond of books from the very start ; he was singularly 
discriminating in his judgment of them. I remem- 
ber hearing his grandfather, the Hon. Henry A. 
Wise, say of him one evening as he lay on the rug, 
in the advancing twilight, pouring over some history 
or work far beyond his years, for he was but a child, 
I have been testing him, to see if he comprehended 
what he was reading, and to my surprise he gave 
me a complete analysis of the contents. 

When fourteen years old, his teacher said to me, 
I wish you had been in my schoolroom to-day. I 
called Jennings Garnett to the blackboard and 
gave him a very difficult problem to solve in 
mathematics. He used his own letters in the dia- 
gram, and having solved the problem, he worked 
out the rule in his own language with marvelous 
precision and perspecuity ; I then gave him Homer 
to recite, and such a translation you never heard. 

He thought him the most wonderful boy he had 
ever come in contact with. His mind was as 
prompt as it was brilliant, and as solid as it was 
prompt. What cost others hard study, he mastered 
without effort. 

In William and Mary he won all the honors of 
his class, and at eighteen filled a chair of instruc- 
tion with entire satisfaction. 






JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 55 

In the University of Virginia he achieved in an 
incredibly short time a success, which made his 
exit from University life a perfect, ovation. A lady 
said to me, I have witnessed like exhibitions in 
Oxford, and Cambridge, England, but I never saw 
anything that could be compared to the triumph 
of young Garnett. All this is matter of history, 
and the history was written by a youth of twenty. 

If I were to attempt an analysis of his mental 
organism I should say that depth and brilliancy 
were equally balanced. He was fully as remarkable 
for his power of acquisition as he was for his power 
of expression. 

Fluent, self-poised, full of knowledge, and apt in 
the art of communicating what he knew, he would 
keep his young companions, night after night, 
hanging on his lips, as he discoursed to them of 
history, logic, rhetoric, constitutional law, and 
poetry. They all acknowledged his marked super- 
iority, and hence, there was never a pang of 
jealousy felt. His modesty was equal to his intel- 
lectual vigor, and that disamred rivalry. 

I do not believe that his equal at twenty years 
of age could have been found through the whole 
length and breadth of this land, nor do I believe 
his superior was anywhere to be found on the 
globe. 



56 MEMORIAL OF 

The versatility of his gifts was as remarkable as 
their depth and brilliancy. 

He was fond of physical exercise, and no one 
took the lead when he was at the oar or in the 
gymnasium. He was the life of the social circle, 
and nothing could exceed his refinement of thought 
and expression. I have seen the most willing 
testimony borne to this feature of his character by 
those who were his bosom companions. In his 
freest intercourse with his associates, he never gave 
expression to a thought or word that the most 
delicate lady might not have listened to with 
pleasure. So they say, all. 

In my interview with him, a few days before he 
fell asleep, he said, with great emphasis, Bishop, I 
have never had a doubt of the religion of Christ, 
and I know that there can be no hope that is not 
based on the crucified Son of Glod. His Bible gives 
evidence of daily use. Passages are marked, and 
the daily reading in it is indicated. It was the best 
used book on his table. 

He told me that he had wished to be confirmed, 
but the opportunity was not afforded him. He said 
that his thoughts on this subject were not the growth 
of a day or hour of sickness. In the calmest man- 
ner possible he said to me, I wish to receive the 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 57 

communion and to be confirmed if you think it 
right. I dealt honestly with him, and never shall 
I forget his first sweet communion and the holy 
unction of his manner. 

In company with a lady, with whom he staid 
while at the South, he said, when asked his opinion 
as to the chief happiness of man, it is the sweet 
submission of the soul to the will of God; and to 

one of his colleagues, who had chosen the ministry 

* 

as the work of his future life, he said, you have 
chosen the noble profession. 

He was very dear to me. His grandeur of intel- 
lect awed me. Though only twenty-one, he made 
me feel that there was nothing in the range of 
human thought beyond his grasp. His modesty 
awed me. It was truly w T onderful. His gentleness 
moved me. His unselfishness won upon my warm- 
est regard. His freedom from censoriousness was 
indeed a charm. 

To have such a jewel in your possession for 
twenty years was a rich, rare privilege. To have 
him call you father and mother was exquisite hap- 
piness. His filial obedience, and warm, gushing 
sympathy you know, for you felt it all. 

His desire to please you was the cordial of his 
young life. The consciousness that he could not 
8 



58 JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 

hope to live to repay you for your nursing care was 
the only regret I heard him express as the dark 
river was rolling at his feet. 

Job says : " Miserable comforters are ye all. 55 I 
feel it is so. God bless and soothe and sanctify you 
in your sorrow. This is the prayer of your afflicted 
friend and brother. 

W. PlNKNEY. 

September 16, 1880. 



It has been a source of ineffable and abiding con- 
solation to his family that his was no death-bed con- 
version. As far back as 1874, upon the occasion of 
his leaving home, he was presented with a Bible by 
his mother, in which we find this fact recorded, 
together with his own name and the following quo- 
tations : " They that trust in the Lord shall be as 
Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abideth 
forever." Ps. 125 : 1. " The fear of the Lord is 
the beginning of wisdom." Ps. Ill : 10. These 
were written by himself, and are an evidence 
of the care, regularity and attention that he be- 
stowed upon the study of the Bible. We also find 
a tablet of record showing the day and dates, upon 
which each portion of the Holy Scripture was read, 
as well as the exactness and fidelity he observed in 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 59 

the performance of what he regarded as a para- 
mount duty. Overwhelming as was the herculean 
task which he had imposed upon himself, demand- 
ing unceasing and extraordinary application, one 
can scarcely conceive it possible that he could find 
time for the daily perusal of the Scriptures, yet it 
appears by his own accurate records that this beauti- 
ful young spirit never failed in the performance of 
this sacred duty, and ceased not to remember and 
fulfill the teachings of his childhood. 

Like all other subjects presented to the analytic 
powers of his extraordinary mind, he seemed to 
absorb and acquire knowledge of the Holy Book as 
by intuition, comprehending and realizing the full 
import of its divine truths. 

He often expressed his belief in the teachings of 
the Bible; and only a few days before his death, 
with no immediate apprehension that his departure 
from earth was so soon to occur, when conversing 
upon the subject of death, he remarked that he was 
not afraid to die, that he had often thought upon 
the subject, and that he believed implicitly in a 
future state and the plan of salvation taught by the 
Christian religion. 

His life, he said, had been such a busy one in 
college, that he had deferred the renewal of the 



60 MEMORIAL OF 

baptismal vows of infancy by the rite of confirma- 
tion — the public declaration of his firm faith before 
men, but that it had been his intention to do so for 
several years. He was also deterred, in part, from 
taking this step, by the fact that there were some 
comparatively unimportant points of dogmatic the- 
ology, to which his intellect had not assented, and 
upon which he needed more light to clear away the 
mists of obscurity and doubt; he wished to have a 
clear reason for the hope and faith he should profess 
before God and man. Continuing to converse upon 
this subject, he said, that " it would be hard to give 
up the plans and objects traced out by hope and 
ambition for the future life of this world, and that 
owing to the intimate connection between the soul 
and body, dissolution must be attended with a fear- 
ful wrench — that the parting from all the loved ones 
of earth was very heart rending — yet if it was God's 
will that he must go, he should meet death calmly 
and fearlessly." 

During the last two days of his illness, though 
patient and submissive under all his suffering and 
weariness, he asked that if it was God's will, that 
the end of his sickness and pain might not be long 
deferred. 

We may, indeed, say of him, that he seemed to 



MEMORIAL OF 61 

belong to God and Heaven. Endowed by nature 
with graces and gifts which adorn and illustrate 
the Christian character, and accepting so fully Divine 
truth, as found in Jesus Christ, no shadow of a doubt 
can cross our mind that he is enjoying the eternal 
happiness of a higher and better life. 

So great was his purity of character, so refined 
his nature, that it was manifested in his high type of 
manly beauty and lovely expression of countenance. 

It is no exaggeration to say that in our belief the 
most hardened in vice would have been as much 
startled by profanity or a coarse expression emanat- 
ing from his lips as if it had been uttered by a deli- 
cate and modest maiden. 

We may be pardoned for saying, in conclusion, 
that the rich harmony and sweet accord exhibited 
in the physical, intellectual, moral, and religious 
attributes so rarely combined in this gifted youth, 
presents to our mind a triumphant diapason of 
Divine music. 

To those who were unacquainted with Jennings 
Garnett this sketch may present one feature calcu- 
lated to elicit criticism. It may be said by some of 
these that it is too much in the line of eulogy to be 
an accurate exposition or representation of the life 
and character of any individual, that it borders 



62 MEMORIAL OF 

on the miraculous to find so perfect a being. We 
reply to those, if there be any such, that there was 
no dark side to his life or character ; that the picture 
so far drawn is a faithful and true delineation ; that 
his brief existence was like the germination, growth, 
and flowering of some lovely and fragrant plant, 
the brightness and beauty of which was all that be- 
longed to it ; unfolding its symmetry and sweetness 
at each stage of its progressive development, without 
a blemish or stain to mar its perfected maturity. 
Nor must it be supposed that he was what is styled 
an effeminate book worm, and lacking in any of the 
manly qualities or that chivalrous spirit which con- 
stitutes the perfect man. On the contrary, he was 
ever ready, on all proper occasions, to engage in 
manly sports and exercise, sympathizing with and 
taking an active part in most enterprises of the kind 
inaugurated by his college companions; as accom- 
plished, indeed, in most of such pursuits as he was 
in the arena of scholarship. From his boyhood he 
was conspicuous for his fearless and unselfish bravery, 
espousing the cause of a friend with a chivalric and 
heroic disregard of personal safety as readily, or 
more so, than in defence of himself. Impelled by 
his generous and noble nature, he has often been 
known to thrust himself between the weak and 



1 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 63 

the strong — stoutly and courageously defending the 
former when the balance of physical strength was 
greatly in favor of his antagonist. 

" too #' oox entXrjtrofiat o<pp av eytoye 



Zcuotcnv fieriu) xai fim <pila yobvaz opcoprj. 
El dk&avovTwv Tzep xazaArj&ovT £lv 'Atdao, 
Abrap iya> xai xehS-t <pikou fiefivi/jaofi iratpou" 

Iliad, Book XXII, line 387 to 390. 



64 MEMORIAL OF 



ACTION OF COLLEGE AUTHORITIES AND SOCIETIES. 



[Extract.] 

College of William and Mary, 

Williamsburg, Va., Sept. 18, 1880. 

At a meeting of the Faculty, held this day, the 
following action was taken : 

" Whereas the Faculty of this Institution has 
received the sad intelligence of the death of Jen- 
nings Wise Garnett, within its experience the most 
distinguished graduate of the college for scholar- 
ship and capacity, and who the year after he 
graduated performed with ability and acceptance, 
the duties of Professor of Moral and Mental Phi- 
losophy. 

" Resolved, That this Faculty seeks, thus, to ex- 
press its heartfelt sympathy with the parents of 
their late pupil and friend, assuring them of its 
sorrowful appreciation of the loss of a son of such 
genius, promise, and virtue. 

" Resolved, That a copy of the above be sent to 
the parents of the deceased." 

Benj. S. Ewell, 

President. 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 65 

[Extract.] 

Headquarters Wise Light Infantry, 

Williamsburg, Va., Oct. 2, 1880. 

At a meeting of the Wise Light Infantry held at 
their armory in Williamsburg, Virginia, October 
2, 1880, the following action was taken in reference 
to the death of Jennings Wise Garnett, an honorary 
and formerly an active member of the company : 

Resolved, That this command has heard with un- 
feigned sorrow of the death of Jennings Wise 
Garnett, who for two years was an active member 
of this company. 

Resolved, That we not only wish to pay all proper 
respect to the memory of the deceased as a late 
comrade, but wish to record the love and affection 
which bound us to him personally. In addition to 
his wonderful talents, and his pre-eminence as a 
student, we remember with pride his ready zeal in 
the affairs of our company, and the facility with 
which he answered all questions upon a competitive 
examination for promotion, which he won over all 
others by a unanimous vote of the judges. 

Resolved, That as he was in other spheres of life 
a type of the highest manhood, so as a citizen 
soldier he was an example of excellence ; and we 



66 MEMORIAL OF 

are proud to have had his name upon our roll of 
members, regarding it as an honor to our corps, 
and a compliment to the volunteers of Virginia. 

Resolved, That the usual testimony of mourning 
be adopted by the command in honor of the memory 
of our late comrade, Corpl. Jennings Wise Garnett. 
By direction of the company : 

Richard A. Wise, Captain. 
Jno. L. Mercer, 1st Lieut 
T. M. Southall, M Lieut 
C. P. Armstead, 3d Sergeant 



IN MEMORIAM. 

B. 0. IJ. 

Whereas it has come to our knowledge that on 
the 7th day of August, 1880, our brother, Jennings 
Wise Garnett, passed from this life, and 

Whereas Brother Garnett was at the time of his 

death, a most worthy and respected member of this 
fraternity : 

Be it resolved by Omicron Chapter of the Beta Theta Pi 
fraternity : 

1st. That while we cannot understand the wisdom 
of the Divine decree which has taken from us our 
brother, just entering on the bright prospects of 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 67 

manhood, we know that it has been done in wisdom, 
and in love by one "too wise to err too good to be 
unkind." 

2d. That we feel that words are inadequate to 
express the deeply heartfelt sorrow which the news 
of his death has occasioned, and we may but feebly 
portray our feelings of sadness in thinking of the 
loss we have sustained. 

3d. That in the death of Brother Garnett our 
fraternity has lost a scholar whose former achieve- 
ments gave ample promise of future success, a high 
minded and noble gentleman, and a man who u take 
him all in all we shall not look upon his like 
again." 

4th. That we extend to the family and friends of 
Brother Garnett, our heartfelt sympathy in this 
time of great affliction which has fallen to their 
lot and to ours, and assure them in this hour of 
sadness that their sorrow is the sorrow of us all. 

5th. That a copy of these resolutions be trans- 
mitted to the bereaved family, and a copy be sent 
to the University Magazine for publication. 

S. J. Shepherd, 
T. W. Haynes, 
Geo. E. Hughes, 

Committee. 
University of Virginia, 

Hall of Beta Theta Pi, Oct. 16th, 1880. 



68 MEMORIAL OF 

FROM PUBLIC JOURNALS AND PRIVATE LETTERS. 



From the many beautiful and affectionate tributes to him written 
for the public journals, or as private letters to his family, we 
have selected the following to be placed on record in this little 
memorial volume : 

From Armistead C. Gordon. 

Charlottesville, Va., August 10, 1880. 
Henry Wise Garnett, Esq., Washington, D. C. 

My Dear Sir: I trust that with a recognition of 
the motive which prompts this letter you will pardon 
a seeming intrusion. For the two years that he was 
a student at the University of Virginia, I knew Jen- 
nings Garnett intimately, and the news of his death, 
which came to me a few days ago at Staunton, my 
present dwelling place, filled me with a profound 
and sincere regret. I have little patience with the 
cant of condolence; I w T rite to you now merely to 
add one other additional voice to the chorus of 
praise of the young life whose thread has been 
broken, and to show you that there are hearts be- 
yond his own hearthstone that have been touched 
by his untimely end. I regard his death as a public 
calamity, for I know that his genius and his acquire- 






JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 69 

ments must unavoidably have exerted a widespread 
and beneficial influence in after years had he lived 
to attain the meridian of manhood. 

In contemplating his death, I am reminded of 
that eloquent passage in the speech of Fisher Ames 
on the occasion of the death of Alexander Hamil- 
ton: "These tears that we shed will never dry up. 
My heart grows liquid as I speak, and I could pour 
it out like water." 

Although I am older by some years than your 
brother was, and had graduated at the University 
several sessions before he entered it, yet through an 
intimacy formed with a ypunger brother of my own 
at William and Mary College, I was brought in con- 
tact with him on his arrival at this place, and his 
splendid character and genius drew me irresistibly 
to him. 

During his last session at the University I had the 
good fortune, although not a student, to be a mem- 
ber of a literary club of seven in the institution — all 
of whom were amongst its "honor men" at its 
ensuing commencement. 

It was our custom to meet weekly for the informal 
discussion of political, social and literary subjects; 
and in that assembly of young talents Jennings Gar- 
nett's mind shone like a light on a mountain. He 



70 MEMORIAL OF 

was 'confessedly the superior of us all in intellect, in 
knowledge, in the power of imparting that knowl- 
edge, although in years he was the junior of each 
of us. 

Time after time have I known him hold that 
thoughtful body of young men in a mute and atten- 
tive thrall, till late in the night, with the singularity 
of his knowledge, the originality of his thought, the 
grace and ease and charm of his language. In this 
club I saw him at his best in the display of his men- 
tal powers. He was a young, intellectual giant, at 
whose feet we all knelt, and from whose mind we 
drew knowledge as water from a fountain. The 
mysteries of natural science, the glories of ancient 
and modern history, the wealth and the power of 
philosophy, the beauties of poetry, flowed from his 
lips as though such knowledge were innate in him 
and a very part of his being. His was the most 
wonderful young mind with which I ever came in 
contact. 

But his mind was not inferior to his heart. When 
a youth at college stands pre-eminent above his 
comrades, the slings and arrows of detraction are 
not unfrequently aimed at such a shining mark. 
Yet it was not so in this instance. In all the time 
of my acquaintance with him I never heard a word 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 71 

spoken of him that was not of earnest admiration. 
I have heard many that went far beyond and eclipsed 
admiration in burning words of ardent affection. 

Generous, brave, warm-hearted — tender as a wo- 
man — perfectly devoid of vanity which successful 
achievement so often brings — beautiful as Apollo — 
with the knowledge and the judgment of mature 
middle age — the enthusiasm of youth, and the genius 
which belongs to no one of the seven ages, unless 
it be given at birth, he seemed in the regard of his 
young comrades all that a man ought to be or 
could be. 

It has given me a melancholy satisfaction to testify 
my admiration for his genius, and for the purity of 
his character that always " w T ore the white flower of a 
blameless life." If such testimony be an intrusion, 
I trust and believe that you will pardon it for his 
sake; and believe me, 

Very truly yours, 

Armistead C. Gordon. 



" I fancy that your soul somewhere to-night 
Rejoices in the glow of Shakspeare's smile : 
That Bacon's luminating thoughts beguile 
Your knowledge-craving spirit ; that the light 
Of Shelley's face shines on your raptured sight ; 
That Marlowe's song is ringing in your ears, 



72 MEMORIAL OF 

And yet to my unwilling eyes the tears 
Steal tremulously up, my cheek grows white. 

Can Shakspeare's smile and Shelley's beauty keep 
Your spirit so entranced no thought will stray 

Back to this nether planet where we weep ? 
Is our old night-time lost in your new day? 
Ah, no ! For sweet though Marlowe's song may be. 
And Bacon's words, you walk no less to-night with me. 

A. C. G. 



From Henry C. Coke. 



Eichmond, Va., August 11, 1880. 
Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett, Washington, D. C. 

My Dear Sir : You will doubtless be somewhat 
surprised at the receipt of this from me. If I ap- 
pear to intrude upon a grief which is sacred, and 
which from its very intensity must seem to be yours 
alone, I hope you will pardon me; but I cannot 
refrain from expressing to the father of our dear old 
Jinks the distress I feel at his untimely death. 

I have known him intimatety for five or six years, 
having first met him at William and Mary College 
in 1875, where we occupied for a time the double 
relation of professor and student, and of fellow stu- 
dents. Since that time we have been students 
together at the University of Virginia, members of 
the same college fraternity, and on the most inti- 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 73 

mate terms of friendship ; and " Jinks," as we 
always called him, is prominent in all of my most 
pleasant recollections of college life. 

I have never known a man who so nearly ap- 
proached my ideal of what a man should be; it 
might be said of him truly: -'That nature might 
stand up and say to all the world, this was a man." 

To the most brilliant mind I have ever known he 
added the most gentle and unassuming manners — 
always ready for pleasure or work as the occasion 
demanded, and excelling in both — carrying with 
him into all the relations of life that manliness and 
modest bearing which won for him the esteem and 
admiration of all with whom he came in contact. 
For two years he was the pride of the University, 
doing there what no other man had ever done; and 
it was esteemed not only a pleasure, but an honor to 
be an intimate friend of "Jinks" Garnett. I know 
what a void his death has left in the hearts of his 
family, but all the consolation that can be derived 
from the sympathy of those who admired and loved 
him well is their's. 

Remember me to Yelverton, who is, I hope, quite 
well. 

Believe me, dear sir, yours very truly, 

Henry C. Coke. 
10 



74 MEMORIAL OF 

From Mr. G. W. Morris. 

Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 25, 1880. 

My Dear Sir : I have endeavored to write a 
sketch of Jennings as I knew him but I find 1 am 
unequal to the task. It would be a most grateful 
one if I felt that I could be the means of letting 
others know him as I knew him, and of perpetua- 
ting the memory of the brightest mind and noblest 
spirit that graced my college days. But I find I 
cannot do justice to his memory and I will not be- 
little it. 

Many beyond the limits of his acquaintance have 
heard of and knew the brilliancy of his mind and 
the splendor of his college achievements, but none 
but those who knew him when a student, can know 
the peculiar modesty of his bearing, the good fel- 
lowship that made him ready for each and every 
scheme of pleasure that was proposed ; the purity 
of character that placed him in every position of 
trust and confidence which the students had to be- 
stow, and the gentle kindliness of manner that won 
for him the friendship and affection of all with 
whom he was brought into association ; and none 
but they can know that these, and not his intellect, 
are qualities which made him, when living, the best 



Jennings Wise gaUNeTT. 75 

known and best loved student of his time, and with 
which old students associate his memory. 

The position he attained in college was a peculiar 
and an enviable one. The most conspicuous man 
of his day, known and talked of by every one, at 
the head of almost every organization of which he 
was a member ; always and in every discussion and 
division of interest, the earnest advocate of one side 
or the other, and never hesitating to give his opin- 
ion of men and measures ; yet Jinks Garnett was 
the only man of the many I knew at college against 
whom I have yet to hear the first word of unkind- 
ness spoken by any one. When you consider the 
petty jealousies and dislikes that divide the students 
into so many adverse cliques and factions, you. can 
appreciate that no higher tribute could be paid to 
his gentleness and modesty, to his unimpeachable 
integrity of character and conduct. 

I have nothing to say about his mind. Thou- 
sands knew it and lament its lost. But I and the 
students of '77-8 and '78-9 will long regret the loss 
and keep fresh the memory of our most genial com- 
panion and truest friend. 

The announcement that the gentie spirit of 
Jinks Garnett had fled forever brought sorrow into 
many homes besides his own. 



76 MEMORIAL OF 

I regret that I cannot write a worthy sketch of 
Jinks, what I have written is far from satisfying 
me, but I send it as it is. 

I am, sincerely and truly, 

Geo. Watts Morris. 
Henry Wise Garnett, Washington, D. C. 



From James L. Gordon. 

Charlottesville, Va., August 14, 1880. 
My Dear Yel: I have waited until things grew a 
little calmer with you before writing how my heart 
has been with you in this our deep affliction. 1 say 
our affliction, because I know that no one outside of 
his immediate family can grieve as I do for my dear 
Jennings. He was the nearest and the dearest friend 
I ever had: 

" Dear as the mother to the son, 

More than my brothers are to me." 

Into my life, my love for him is so blended, that I 
cannot think of him as dead. 

Through all my happiest past the memory of him 
runs like a golden thread. 

I know of no one of whom it could be said more 
truly that " This brave and tender man in every 



JENNINGS WISE GAftNETT. 77 

storm was oak and rock, but in the sunshine he was 
vine and flower." 

I do not think I am mistaken when I say that dur- 
ing the time he was at the University with me I was 
nearer to him, knew him better, his thoughts, his 
hopes, his aims, than any other of his many friends; 
and I know that I worshipped him. 

Through all the days I knew him, under all cir- 
cumstances, at all times and in all places I never 
faltered in that love, nor shall I ever do so. I shall 
carry to my own grave the memory of his fair and 
gentle face and of his gentle soul. 

I cannot express to you with what crushing grief 
the intelligence of his death fell on me; for, although 
I had been told often that he could never get well, 
it seemed so unnatural, so horrible, that I never 
ceased to hope, if not for his ultimate recovery, at 
least that he would live many years. 

Ever since he returned from the South I had 
wanted to go on to see him, but various circum- 
stances kept me from doing so. I had hoped, at 
least, to see him once before he died, and it was only 
when they told me he was dead that I knew how 
inexpressibly dear he was to me. 

For the first time, Yelverton, since my own dear 
mother died, T gave wav to an agonv of tears — tears 



78 Memorial of 

that seemed to spring from my heart like drops of 
blood. 0h ? I wish I could tell you how truly, how 
tenderly I loved him. 

This morning I read a little poem of Miss Proc- 
tor, called the Pilgrims, which, after describing the 
bitterness of a great grief, concluded with — 

" But blacker hung the darkness, 
Bound Calvary's cross that day. 

O Lamb of God who takest, 
The sin of the world away, 
Have mercy on us." 

Let us trust that He will. 

I must close now, nry dear old fellow, for it is get- 
ting so dark I can't see to write. 

If you ever find time to write, I will always be 
glad to hear from you. 

Ever your friend, 

James Lindsay Gordon. 



From George L. Fawcett. 



Rossville, Baltimore Co., Md., August 10, 1880. 
Mr. Y. P. Garnett. 

My very Dear Sir: Owing to a change of resi- 
dence, it was late Monday morning that I received 
your telegram. Alas, too late for me to pay a last 
tribute in person to poor Jennings. I write now to 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 79 

express to you the pain that was caused by the death 
of one truly dear to me, and to extend the deepest 
sympathy to you and 3'our family for this most dire- 
ful trouble. Even though it might have been sus- 
pected by you for months before, how overwhelming 
it must be! 

To associate youth and the death, even of the 
most commonplace, is dreadful enough; but how 
much more so when youth and genius are cut down ! 
I am not alone in memories of youth resplendent in 
brightness, in which the image of Jinks is so prom- 
inent; or am I alone in having them clouded by this 
sad event. 

I am but one of the many who held the tenderest 
regard for him — regard for him not only engendered 
by his grand intellect, but also by gentle and kind 
characteristics so sweet that the merest weakling 
could not feel overshadowed. Envy could find no 
place vulnerable. 

Is it possible! Can Jinks be dead? I cannot 
realize that death has taken what nature has striven 
so hard to make perfect. 

How I sympathize with you. Those of your 
family who are yet young in life can, perhaps, learn 
to bear this fearful shock; but your parents ! My 
heart bleeds for them! 



80 MEMORIAL OF 

Children are the solace of the winter of life — in 
them parents may live again; the triumphs of the 
child are the triumphs of the father and mother. 
What triumphs seemed in store for son and parents 
in this case? What hopes have been blasted by that 
King of Terror, Death? 

Yours, sincerely, 

Geo. L. Fawcett. 



From George S. Shackelford. 

Charlottesville, Va., 1880. 
Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett, Washington, JD. C. 

My Dear Sir: Understanding from Mr. Gordon 
that you expect to have photographs taken of a 
crayon portrait of Jennings, I take the liberty of 
writing to ask that you will send a copy of the 
photograph to me. 

Amiable, modest, unselfish, brave and generous, 
added to the most brilliant mind I have ever known, 
he was to me one of the most lovable men that it 
has ever been my good fortune to have associated 
with. 

Hoping that the interest I feel in what concerns 
the memory of your son and my friend, may be a 
sufficient excuse for my writing this without being 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 81 

personally acquainted with any other member of his 
family, and extending to you the sympathy of one 
who knows what it is to have the one you hold 
dearest taken from you, 

I am, very sincerely, 

Geo. S. Shackelford. 



From the Richmond, (Va.) " State." 

TO HIS MEMORY. 

By W. E. Christian, a College Mate. 

" * * * vio^ vico^ %bv Mopuj, 

v E#ave-»—Soph. 

Jennings Wise Garnett was born in Washington, 
March 1st, 1859. He was the youngest son of Dr. 
A. Y. P. Garnett of that city. His mother is the 
daughter, by his first marriage, of the late Henry 
A. Wise. His first name comes to him from his 
great-grandfather the Rev. Dr. Jennings, in his 
time, a distinguished minister, of Kentucky. 

It was during the later time of his life in Rich- 
mond that, not yet six years of age, he was even 
then sketching the outlines of the life before him. 
Having learned from his mother his early lessons, 
many an evening could his eyes have been seen 
11 



82 MEMORIAL OF 

following at the sleepy end of the day the twilight 
stealing away from his story — alone with his book. 

Having removed to Washington in 1868, he was 
entered at school. His master loved him for his 
gentleness, and had respect for his pliant power. 
During the last two years of his school life, a mere 
boy, he helped to teach his mates. 

In 1874, he entered William and Mary College. 
Now, he was destined to lighten, with a sheen yet 
livelier, the sheer brilliance with which his thrilling- 
tongued ancestry had long before skirted the utter- 
most borders of Virginia. Taking his Bachelor's 
degree in two sessions, he was, during his second 
session, appointed sub-professor. Remaining the 
third session for a general and leisurely review, he 
was occupied as senior professor, also, in the schools 
of Mental Science and of Constitutional Law. The 
same faculties that gave him prestige as a young 
lecturer, gave him a simple majesty, also, as a young 
debater. 

In the fall of 1877, he entered the University of 
Virginia. In two years, outstripping there all 
former graduates, he won from Bishop Dudley the 
" our distinguished graduate." At his books he 
was not constant. Swift and strong in game, to his 
lady he wore the smile of Sidney ; on horse he was 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 83 

a Claverhouse ; to his master he was the Genius : 
to his friend he was the brother ; to the world the 
gentleman — reserved, courteous and brave. In suc- 
cess, he was constant. It has been said that he was 
never seen to study. For his study was not our 
study. His glimpse was an electric sweep ; his 
companions could not see that he had compassed 
the whole expanse, and how he was again so soon 
among them with his music and mirth. His ken, 
like a wand, the problem, under its magic, tumbled 
into pieces. In review he condensed twice — first 
into topics, then into lines. Taking up the lines 
like stitches, he would swiftly thread through and 
gather up the whole subject. At the end of the 
first session he took diplomas on Mathematics, 
Latin, French, German, and a certificate in interme- 
diate Greek ; at the end of the second session he 
took diplomas in Greek, Natural Science, Chemis- 
try, Moral Philosophy, History and Literature. His 
famous task done, said Professor Holmes, " he is a 
perfect man." His fellows would have borne him 
on their shoulders, but shrinking away, he hid him- 
self. At the call of his name, tall and lithe, he 
walked forward. Upon a fair Greek face, lines of 
intellectual light classically crossed one another. 
The rapturous thrill of applause over-burdened 



84 memorial op 

him ; his lips quivered and his eyes filled as he 
took his master's diploma. 'Twas all done, yet had 
not attention been called to him, you would not 
have seen the doer. 

In the summer of 1879, with a companion, he 
took passage on a sailing vessel for France. A 
strange, sweet rest came over him. The broad 
waters seemed to give freedom, for the first time, 
to his soul's expanding. His face became glorified 
before the gale, and, in calm, he seemed to be 
extorting from a star its secret, or listening to a 
wave whispering its story. 

In Paris, he attracted the attention of Dr. Belvin, 
of that city, who would have had him return to 
finish under his care his profession. He had been 
offered a scholarship in the University of Paris, 
but, on his refusal of it, the University of Virginia 
had awarded it to another. 

In November, 1879, he returned, in handsome 
plight, to Washington. But the blight soon came. 
Neither the mildness of the South, nor the sulphur 
of the mountain brought back the bloom. 

August 7th, 1880, at his home, he was dying; he 
was calmly read} 7 . His soul was too great for 
destruction or for mortal fear. " I weep for 
Adonais; he is dead." Never a rosary rarer than 



JENtfiNGS WISE GAttttETT. 85 

the golden thread of his gentle life beaded with 
brilliants ! 

From his face lifeless, still 

" The glowing lamp of genius outward shone, 
As through a whitish vase." 

A moment before the end, calmly, quietly, he 
said : " My vision is so impaired that I cannot dis- 
tinguish objects clearly." Dazzled by the quick 
splendor of the Heaven-light! Then he " lives, he 
wakes. ' Tis death is dead, not he. Mourn not 
for Adonais." 

" Immortal youth ! 
" His presence haunts this room to-night, 
Welcome beneath this roof of mine ! 
Welcome ! this vacant chair is thine, 
Dear guest." 
August 20, 1880. W. E. C. 



From the Richmond Dispatch. 

JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 

By J. C. L., A College Mate. 

A telegram received here Saturday morning 
brings the sad intelligence of the death, in Wash- 
ington, of Jennings, the brilliant son of Dr. A. 
Y. P. Garnett, of that city. His friends have 
feared the worst for some time, and yet it comes 
with a shock — so hard is it to accustom ourselves 



86 MEMORIAL OF 

to the thought of death when we are brought face 
to face with the mystery. 

The simple announcement will carry a pang to 
hundreds of young hearts throughout the country — 
hearts that so lately beat with his in the proud 
hour of victory when we saw him crowned with 
the highest honors of the first institution in the 
land, and that will now beat in sympathy with those 
stricken with a voiceless anguish by their desolate 
hearthstone. 

It is a sentiment that dignifies our common 
nature which impels the living to speak of the 
dead only in terms of forbearance and respect. 
But much will be forgiven the man who comes to 
pay his last poor tribute to a dead friendship. No, 
not a dead friendship ; for death can no more kill 
the emotions than it can kill its immortal source — 
the soul. It is, like prayer, among the forces of 
nature, and cannot be lost. It may be severed and 
broken here for a while, but it will be united here- 
after in an infinite and eternal harmony. 

" Jinks," as we called him in familiar college 
intercourse, was not more than two and twenty* 
years of age, and yet such was the brilliancy of his 
intellect that it maybe said he was well-known even 

* But twenty years and four months. 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 87 

beyond the bounds of his native State. He took 
the highest degree in the University (that of M. 
A.) easily in two sessions — a feat that no other man 
has performed since the course was increased to 
nine tickets. And yet he was not, as might be sup- 
posed, a bookworm ; there was never the odor of 
the midnight oil about him. No man was readier 
than " Jinks " for a song, a game, a callithump, or 
a pull on the river. No man took more active 
interest in the athletic sports of the University, nor 
gave them more time than he; though it would 
seem that he of all men had least time to give 
anything but his books. And vet a bad recitation 
or a slip on an examination from him would have 
been a nine-day's wonder. What other men 
attained by intense and continued application he 
seemed to reach by a single bound. His swift com- 
prehension amounted almost to intuition. 

But I had not intended to speak of his mind : his 
light has gone out on the very threshold of life, 
but his reputation as a scholar and man of genius 
will live. I recall now his social characteristics 
most clearly. There were few more popular men 
with the students than he. His abilities did not 
seem to excite the envy of other men, probably 
because he was so far above the average that few 



88 MEMORIAL OF 

felt the comparison. His manly face and figure 
gave him a distinguished bearing, which you could 
not fail to mark even in a crowd. All who came 
within the influence of his daily life felt the charm 
they could not well describe. His heart was a fit 
companion for his mind, and both were of imperial 
mould. It will be many years before the students 
of the University for the sessions 1877-'8 and 
1878-'9 will forget the genial and generous smile 
of " Jinks " Garnett, while nearer still there are 
those — 

" Who for thy last long sleep, 

Shall sleep as sweetly never more ; 
Shall weep because thou cans't not weep, 
And grieve that all thy griefs are o'er." 

It has been a sad pleasure to one who knew and 
loved him to pen this hasty and imperfect sketch. 



With this notice taken from the " Louisville Com- 
mercial," we introduce the concluding paragraph of 
a letter received at the same time, from the writer 
of the notice, a college companion and warm friend 
of Jennings : 

" My deepest sympathy has gone out to you from 
first, and I hope that you will not deem me guilty 
of exaggeration when I say that I need it as much 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 89 

in this case as yourself. JenniDgs was one of the 
few that I have known who commanded my utmost 
respect and love. Believe me, sir, when I say that 
I hardly expect ever to look upon his like again. 
" I am, very truly yours, 

" Charles Rutledge Whipple. 55 

Extract from Louisville Commercial. 

" The Washington papers brought to me some 
weeks ago the tidings of the death of Jennings 
Wise Garnett, another grandson of Henry A. Wise. 
This boy was just turned of twenty years of age, 
and yet in that brief space he had gained more dis- 
tinction as a student than ever fell before to the lot 
of one so young. At seventeen years of age he 
had graduated at the College of William and Mary 
with the highest honors of his class, was then ap- 
pointed Professor of Mental Science and Constitu- 
tional Law, and having served in that capacity for 
one year, he entered the University of Virginia, and 
by the brilliant power of an intellect almost divine, 
was graduated at the close of his second session 
with the degree of Master of Arts. This achieve- 
ment was justly reckoned the highest that the Uni- 
versity had ever seen. 

" After a short absence in Europe he returned to 
12 



90 MEMORIAL OF 

his home in Washington, and on the 7th day of 
August, 1880, he passed away from us as calmly as 
one would lie down to sleep. There is in such a 
case but little for us who loved him to console our- 
selves with, and we can see nothing of compensa- 
tion for the perishing of so noble and high a soul. 
Bending to the grim and inexorable law that bore 
him to the earth, we do but wonder how, in the 
economy of nature, such a necessity could arise, 
and understanding not, we do but wonder still. So, 
in grief too deep to be put into cold words, we 
carry his memory with us from day to day and 
leave him to the rest of heart and mind that comes 
not to us for our sorrowing. 

" Withered like a lily plucked by cruel hands ; 
vanished like a star stricken from the silent heavens ; 
gone like the light from the day; missed as love is 
when death has come ; he lives still in the sweet 
and ennobling influences that we have with us from 
his life, and so we are not entirely cheated of what 
he was to us. 

" It takes no eye of faith to see that his life was all 
that life can be, and we scorn that justice which 
avers that in his taking off right was done in any 
way. Power may be grim, cruel and cold if it 
choose, but being so, it alone must bear the fault of 
being unloved. 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETS. 91 

" c He giveth his beloved sleep,' they say. But 
down in the gloom and silence of pathetic dust we 
leave him and go our way, crying, ' Alas ! his be- 
loved are sleepless and our feet are smitten w 7 ith 
stones.'" 

We little thought whilst reading this beautiful 
and feeling tribute, penned but a few weeks ago, 
that our hearts would so soon be saddened by the 
intelligence, that this brilliant young intellect had 
been suddenly extinguished by the hand of death, 
and another bright brave spirit been called hence to 
enter within the dark shadows of eternity. 



IN MEMORIAM. 

By Phillip A. Bruce, his College Mate. 

J. W. G. 

Oh Earth ! we come once more 
To lay, with trembling hands, in hallowed soil 
One who shall know no more the stress of toil, 

Or pain on Life's sad shore. 

We place his silent form 
In thee, and may thy fragrant flowers grow 
Above his grave, and scented breezes blow, 

But not the blustering storm. 

In low'ring winter wild, 
When clouds shall drop their fleecy burden down 
In snow, unstained, enfold the sacred mound 

Where lies thv mouldering child. 



92 MEMORIAL Oi^ 

"With bitter grief, and keen, 
We saw that Death would quench the vital spark ; 
Alas ! that Death should love a shining mark ! 

The grim and ruthless fiend. 

On life's broad battle field 
He stood, with girded loins. He felt no fear 
When death approached he calmly dropped his spear, 

His burnished sword and shield. 

They seem, like pleasant dreams, 
To haunt our thoughts, and glowing nights and far, 
When to the breaking dawn, with fence and spar. 

We argued lofty themes. 

We gave no heed to time, 
Although the sparkling stars had paled their light, 
And steeples knoiled, from far-off heights, the night, 

With long resounding chimes. 

Again we see his face, 
With thought impressed on all its classic lines, 
The glowing lamp of genius outward shines, 

As through a whitish vase. 

Grim Death explains at last, 
What life conceals, the final fate of all ; 
Who, by the stern decrees of Nature, fall 

Into the darkness vast. 

Alas ! we know not where 
To find his ghost. Perhaps, in viewless form, 
It rides the sighing breeze or summer storm, 

Or floats in fragrant air. 

Perhaps he ranges free 
In wider spheres, or strolls with Shakspeare mild, 
Or sees the knightly Sydney's courtly smile, 

The kindlv eves of Lee. 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 93 

Although we hear no sound, 
In far and glowing climes, he walks, we know. 
The dark receding earth has sunk into 

The vasty void, profound. t 

We move, alas ! Fair Ghost, 
In darker spheres, or grope in starless night. 
We run afoul the shoals, without a light 

To mark the stormy coast. 

Men droop ; they reel, and fall. 
And bite the dust, and cry aloud. 
In vain they look toward the skies. A cloud 

Conceals them like a pall. 

We draw, in silence, near 
The shrouded form which lies in pallid death ; 
We lay, with trembling hands, a stainless wreath 
Upon the sombre bier. 

August \Mh, 1880. 



From Dr. J. C. Welling. 

College Hill, August 10, 1880. 

My Dear Doctor : Recalled to Washington late 
on Thursday evening last, I was inexpressibly grieved 
to learn from Genevive that you had been called to 
mourn the loss of your brilliant and beloved son, 
whose health I knew had for months past excited 
your apprehensions. 

I had ventured still to hope that you might be 



94 memorial op 

spared the " sorrow's crown of sorrows," for surely it 
is "a crowning sorrow" that you should see so 
much of moral and intellectual beauty forever 
removed from your sight. 

I do not come, my dear friend, to mock your grief 
with words of consolation. I know, by sad expe- 
rience, how powerless is the voice of friendship to 
soothe the heart that is wounded and bleeding 
under the blow of a crushing affliction. For the 
present you can only gauge and fathom the length 
and breadth and depth of your great sorrow, and 
even the gentlest touch of the sympathetic hand can 
hardly do more than wring a fresh note of woe from 
the chords of an aching heart already tense with 
emotion. 

And, therefore, it would, perhaps, be best for me 
to pay to your grief the homage of a tender and 
respectful silence, lest words meant in kindness 
should only serve to start afresh the fountains of 
your tears. 

Still I would not seem insensible to the great be- 
reavement which has come to darken your home; 
and therefore it is that I venture to reach out my 
hand to you in token of sympathy, praying you to 
receive for yourself, and to communicate, to Mrs. 
Garnett, and the other members of your family, the 



JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 95 

assurances of the affectionate remembrance and 
sincere condolence with which I am, my dear Doctor, 
Your faithful friend, 

James C. Welling. 
Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett, Washington, D. C. 



DEATH OF JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 

[Communicated to the Richmond Whig.] 

Died in Washington, August 7, 1880, Jennings 
Wise Garnett, aged twenty-one years. The de- 
ceased was a son of Dr. A. Y. P. Garnett, a leading 
physician of Washington, and of an ancient and 
honorable Virginia family. His mother is a daugh- 
ter of Henry A. Wise, of Virginia. The death was 
in every respect a sad one, and the loss is not only 
to Dr. Garnett's family, but to the country; for the 
deceased was brilliantly endowed w T ith capacities 
which, cultivated by careful training, w 7 ould, in all 
probability, have redounded to the good of the 
whole people. It is no small loss to a country in 
any case to have her young men die. How much 
greater is the loss in this instance ! 

Young Garnett was educated almost entirely in 
Virginia, having graduated in William and Mary 
College when only sixteen, with such distinction, 



96 MEMORIAL OF JENNINGS WISE GARNETT. 

that he was the following year appointed an assist- 
ant professor, and performed his duties with capacity 
and satisfaction to all. 

He afterwards entered the University, where he 
graduated in two years with the Master's degree, 
and stood alone pre-eminently the most distinguished 
graduate of our University. At his graduation 
there was an enthusiastic ovation, such as was never 
before witnessed in college halls ; and what was 
more striking, the admiration for his achievements 
was only surpassed by that for his gentle modesty. 
He was greatly beloved by all of his fellow students, 
who universally deplore their loss. 

The sympathy of a host of friends in Virginia is 
extended to Dr. Garnett, and the whole of Virginia 
mourns the loss of her son, for we claim him by 
virtue of his parentage and by virtue of his Alma 
Mater. 

Virginia has been wont to point to her children 
as her jewels. Alas ! one of her brightest and 
purest gems has been taken away to adorn a higher 
and a nobler sphere — the Kingdom of an Eternal 
God. 






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